Needle



Patented June -210, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHARLES J'. FUNK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO PERIMO PRODUCTS CORPORATION, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORA- -'.LION OF ILLINOIS NEEDLE Application led October 12, 1929. Serial No. 399,306.

The invention relates to improvements in needles, and particularly to an improved needle adapted for use with sound reproducfor example, osmium, or a composition consisting of tungsten, carbon, and cobalt, known to the trade and referred to hereinafter as carboloy, whereby material wear on the needle is practically eliminated, and the volume of sound reproduced or recorded thereby remains substantially constant.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved needle having a hard-4 record-engaging portion, which is non-susceptible to rust; corrosion, or misshaping during continued use.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of an improved needle having a very hard carboloy record-engaging portion shaped to remain in proper adjustment and outlast numerous phonograph records or the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved needle of the character referred to having a carboloy record-engaging portion ground to the requisite degree of iineness, whereby the volume of sound reproduced or recorded thereby may be properly controlled.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved needle having a carboloy record-engaging portion which can be inexpensively manufactured.

Needles adapted for use with sound reproducing or recording instruments of the various types formed of a single metal, usually require replacement after ashort period of usage due to the wearing down or misshaping of the cutting edge or record-engaging portion. When such wearing down or misshaping occurs the reproducing or recording records are frequently ,injured and the volume of sound recorded or reproduced varies or becomes distorted.

The improved needle, of the character hereinbefore referred to, is such that it may be satisfactorily employed indefinitely with- .out requiringl replacement, readjustment, or

cleaning, as the metallic alloy forming the cutting edge or record-engagingl portion is one of the hardest of known metals and resists Wear to the extent that it outlasts the usefulness of numerous phonograph records. When polished and properly ground to the desired shape it resists corrosion and rust and need not be readjusted or reground.

The material forming the record-engaging portion or cutting edge of the improved needle may be formed or ground to any desired shape or size according to the volume of sound it is desired to reproduce .or record therewith. The particular metallic elements forming the improved needle, as disclosed hereinbefore, afford means for accomplishing the foregoing and such other important objects and advantages as will appear hereinafter as the description proceeds, and which will be morereadily understood from a perusal of the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is an elevational view of one type of the improved needle.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a ball point needle embodying the invention.

` Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of an arrow-head needle.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the needle shown in Fig. 3.

Fig; 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of needle.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view, partially in section, of a cutting needle embodying the invention.

Fig. 7 and 8 are side and front elevational views respectively ofa modified form of cutting needle.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the improved reproducing needle 11, shown in Fig. 1, preferably comprises a body portion 12 having a tapered end 13. A record-engaging portion 14, formed of the hard metal, is ground or formed to the desired shape land welded, braised, or otherwise secured to the tapered end 13 and polished. The preferred hard metallic substance forming the record-engaging portion 14 is as aforementioned that metal known to the trade as carboloy, composed of e ual parts of tungsten, carbide, and cobalt. T ese three substances are combined and molded'or ground to the desired shape, as in this particular instance substantially frustroconical, and preferably secured to the body 12 by electro-welding or fusing.

The reproducing needle illustrated in Fig. 2, is similar in all respects to that shown in Fig. 1, except that a ball point record-engagmg P needle capable of reproducing a large tone volume. l

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate another type of reproducing needle, particularly adapted for use on phonograph records, the body portion 16 of which is formed with the substantially arrow-shaped end 17. This arrow-shaped end 17 preferably is tapered inwardly on all sides and a record-engaging portion 18 of v material is braised or welded on its end. The hard record-engaging portion 18 is preferably formed with a curved knife edge 181) adapted to align in the groove of the record.

In the form shown in Fig. 5 the body 19 of the needle is formed of fiat stock having its end tapering to a curved knife edged recordenga ing portion 18a of hard material, which is su tantially similar to the record-engaging portion 18.

Carboloyvmay also be satisfactorily employed-for providing a cutting end on recording needles. As shown in Fig. 6, the body 21 of a needle of the known type is provided with a carboloy end 22 having an annular cutting edge 23 formed thereon by recessmg the end, as at 24. Some other known types of recording needles have a point or cutting edge formed of a metallic or mineral substance harder than that forming theb ody portion, but many of these materials injure the record or lack the hardness required to provide a needle which will remainserviceable indefinitely.

Figs. 7 and 8 show a modiiedform of cutting needle having a carboloy point 25 .m0uld ed or ground to form a substantially diamond or triangular shape providing a cutting point 26.

In operation, any one of the needles described in the foregoing is applied to the usual recorder or reproducer instrument, in the usual manner, and it need not be replaced, cleaned, or readjusted at any time for the carboloy record-engaging portion retains its proper shape and position relative to the groove indefinitely. The improved recordengaging portion does not scratch or cause undue wearing of the record. The carboloy record-engaging portion is practically indestructible, having a hardness of approximately 9.9, the hardest of known metals.

ortion 15 is used to provide a coarse This mineralalso resists corrosion and does not tarnish. i

Although exemplary forms of the improved needle have been illustrated in the accompanying drawing and described in detail in the foregoing specification, it is not desirous to have the invention limitedy tothe precise materials or details of structure shown or tions as fall within the spirit of the invention, and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A needle, for reproducing sound coinprising, in combination, a substantially round body, a portion of said body adjacent one end being substantially flat, the sides and edges of said flat portion tapering towards one end, and a wear-resisting record-engaging portion of harder material than said body on said tapered end formed with a curved knife-like edge.

2. A needle, for reproducing sound, comprising, in combination, a body, a portion of said body adjacent one end being substantially ilat, said flat portion being formed with tapering edges, and a wear-resisting record-engaging portion on said lat portion of harder material than said body formed with a curved knife-'like edge.

3. A needle, for reproducing sound from a sound record having a groove therein, comprising, in combination, a body, a substantially flat portion adjacent one end of said body, said flat portion tapering on all sides towards the same end, and a record-engaging portion of harder material than said body on said tapered end, said record-engaging portion being tapered to Aprovide a. curved knife-like edge.

4. A needle, for reproducing sound from a sound record having a groove therein, comprising, in combination, a body, a substantially flat portion adjacent one end of said body, said flat portion tapering on all sides towards said end, a record-engaging portion of harder material than said body on said tapered end, and a substantially knife-like, curved edge on said record-engaging portion arrangedV to co-operate with the record groove.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature at Chicago, Illinois.

CHARLES J. FUNK.

described but only by such limita- 

